Mediterranean Orange Cake

2 Large Navel Oranges
6 large Eggs
1/2 cup ground almonds
pinch salt
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder

1) Boil oranges in water to cover until soft (30 - 60 minutes)
2) Process almonds thru food processor until finely ground
3) Process boiled orange (skin and rind) thru food processor until you have an orange slurry.
4) Beat Eggs until thick.
5) Add oranges, almonds, salt, sugar and baking powder to eggs and mix well.
6) Pour into greased 9 inch spring form pan
7) Bake at 400 degrees for one hour
8) Cool in pan

Serve with vanilla ice cream, or add some orange liquer to heavy whipped cream. Don't even think of using "topping" or cool whip. I'll pay you $5.00 not to. :)

Notice this cake is gluten-free.

Grapeshot

Do Anything But Write

I just read 10 ideas for eat-in kitchens, and our place already has an eat-in kitchen. I read a bunch of blogs. I inventoried our storage locker for cryin' out loud. There was a huge box (among many boxes) full of empty shoe boxes. What was that for? Old yearbooks, my mother's stamp collection (acquiring mold and mildew), wooden toys, omigod, why does stuff take over our lives? Tae Kwon Do (sp?) equipment. Three VERY HEAVY boxes of magazines to sell onE-Bay. Another box labeled E-Bay We should label the entire 10 X 10 space E-Bay. Loads of crap. Buy Now for 2Cents !!!

I am for Texas to win the basketball tournament. Why do these big guys all wear the weird girly-girl shorts that look like skirts? They look like refugees from the Christian Academy. And black socks! The basketball court is a sartorial disaster. And nobody actually dribbles the ball much anymore. When did these things happen? When did cheerleaders acquire bare midrifts? I am so out of it. Bah Humbug.

Did I promise a recipe for today? Well, suck it up and read on tomorrow. I don't feel like it. Did anyone say absinthe?

Grinchly,

Grapeshot

Non-Fat Sour Cream Rice Noodle Bake with Turkey?

Phooey on the Food Network! Yesterday, I posted an ancient recipe that we ate when the kids were little. #2 son mentioned that a lot of people knew about this recipe, at least in the Midwest. So I googled it. Up sprange the ur- Sour Cream Noodle Bake, and below the original was something so disgusting that I almost barfed.

It was the "noodle bake" casserole made nutrionally correct. With turkey and non-fat everything. It must have turned out so tasteless that they had to add A Whole Head of Garlic to make it palatable enough even for the nutrionalal Nazis. Jeez! The only thing worse would have been Tofurky. Double yuk!

Now, let's think about this. A pound (16 oz.) of lean ground beef divied into 6 servings is what??? Less than 3 oz. per serving. A cup of sour cream (light if you like) divided by six is a couple tablespoons. Folks, we are not talking bacon cheeseburgers here.

The latest weirdness I saw was a cake made with olive oil. Maybe it's good, maybe not, but I sure as hell wouldn't bake it until I had tasted it.

Literary update: ho hum. I wrote about a page the last two days. Can't get enthused. Something must be wrong with the plot. No wonder I'm in a bad mood.

The young bull and the shy cow (possibly a young steer) lock horns over the vegetable scraps. This year's baby is growing tiny horns. Thisbe, the fraidy cat watches a swarm of chicadees, nuthatches and titmice from the living room window. The daffodils at the entrance to the neighborhood are up with big buds. Ah spring. Eat something good.

Tomorrow a vegetarian pasta with asparagus recipe. Seasonal and of course, nutrionally incorrect, but oh so good. Next week a Mediterranean cake (no olive oil) that I am working up my courage to try. When you see the recipe, you'll know why. Onion soup this weekend with real Emmental cheese. And I just gotta get going on Festival Madness. Yes.

Grapeshot

First Day of Spring Weather

The nice day inspired us to turn our 30 minute walk into 55. Someone has cut all the brush down along a nameless pond, exposing the ducks, geese and turtles to view. Lots of mallards about. I'll bet anything that's where the baby ducks came from that paddled around the slough behind the house last year.

Speaking of which, last year's baby calf and the young bull with the sweet face seem to be a couple. They are always rubbing noses. This year's baby gamboled in the pasture yesterday. Scottish Highland Cattle like spring, too.

Turtle doves (a pair) have returned. So have house finches. Greedy little beggars. We have a big flock of chicadees eating the suet. It is so nice to hear the birds singing when I awake in the morning. I do NOT awake with the lark, by the way.

We had a nice group at our presentation in Norfolk tonight, and I sold 3 books. By now I have moved beyond that particular book, and really really want to get the two completed tomes I wrote after The Shadow Warriors finished. And write Festival Madness. And...and. . . and.

Tonight I made a casserole tht dates from when my kids were tiny. Something called "sour cream noodle bake." Haven't made it for ages. We still love it.

Cook 8 oz. of noodles. Rinse, drain and mix with 1 cup sour cream (can be "lite") and a cup of cottage cheese, low-fat fine, fat free not fine. Add 1/2 cup finely chopped scallions and mix the whole business well.

Cook1 lb. ground beef until brown in 2 T. butter. Season with salt, pepper and garlic (Penzy's granules good) and add an 8 oz. can tomato sauce. Cook for 5 minutes.

In a casserole, put a layer of the noodle mixure, a layer of the meat mixure, add another layer of noodles and end with a layer of meet. Sprinkle top with 1/2 cup cheddar (or a cheddar mixture) cheese. Bake in 350 oven for 30 minutes. Serve proudly. Will serve 5-6 or 3 hungry teenage boys.

Aloha,

Grapeshot

These are a few of my favorite writing blogs

Different blogs about writing. Love the names, love the topics. Don't desert "Suck It Up" for the others or I will have abandonment issues.

http://bookangst.blogspot.com/
http://pbackwriter.blogspot.com/2005/03/novel-iv-pitch.html
http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/wrrriter/
http://www.sarahweinman.com/confessions/2005/04/and_the_edgar_a.html
http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/
http://mjroseblog.typepad.com/buzz_balls_hype/
http://girlondemand.blogspot.com/
http://thelipstickchronicles.typepad.com/
http://www.floggingthequill.com/
http://misssnark.blogspot.com/
http://www.theoldhag.com/
http://bookbitch.blogspot.com/

If you are in the neighborhood of Norfolk, MA tomorrow evening and have time on your hands, please stop into the Norfolk library and hear my colleague Jan Brogan and me talking about "The New Heroine."

Don't mix Norfolk up with Norton or Norwell or Norwalk or any of the other "Nors."

Aloha,

Grapeshot who is not heroic at all

The Waiting Game

Literary meanderings: It's been a month since I got the word that the agent who will "eat your stuff up" has my novel. No word. As the old saying goes, no news is good news. I have a couple other options left should she say, "thanks, but no thanks." In the meantime, I put World of Mirrors into one mega document with 2 maps of the area where the book takes place. Don't have the recipes at the back, yet (only 3 for this book). The whole business is off to an editor which I hope will give me a great chance to find an agent/publisher for the book, which is a fun romp through a Baltic backwater with a bunch of really bad but funny guys. Working on a travel article for another blog. Sending a short story to a mag. Getting back into Festival Madness.

Culinary Meanderings: discovered none of my cookbooks had a decent recipe for corned beef and cabbage. Found recipes on the web and combined two. Delicious results. Made a soup from the broth and added veggies, barley and a little bit of corned beef. It is the soup of the day.

Last night's dinner: I have made this and it is quick and good and what else do you ever want?

Recipe: Baked Shrimp in Chipotle Sauce
1/2 stick unsalted butter (no substitutions)
1/4 cup dry red wine
1 1/2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 to 2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo, minced, plus 1 T. adobo sauce (see note)
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 lb. medium shrimp in shell

2 - 3 qt. ceramic or glass shallow baking dish: I used 7 x 10 pyrex.
Accompaniament: baguette
You could also use white rice or corn tortillas.
I served this with a salad of lettuce and avocado with cherry tomatoes and a little cilantro and a bit of shallot, all finely chopped. Home made blue cheese dressing.

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.
Melt butter in a saucepan and stir in wine, Worcestershire sauce , chipotles with adobo sauce, garlic and salt. Toss shrimp with sauce in baking dish and bake until shrimp are just cooked through, 10 -12 minutes. Makes 4 servings.

Significant other is from the old school where one doesn't eat with one's fingers, and so I peeled the shrimp first, but no need to. The bread mops up all the good sauce.

This is from the January 2006 Gourmet by way of epicurious.com which has some dynamite recipes.

Another note: Chipotle chiles in adobo can be found here and there at specialty stores and your local supermarket. A can lasts just about forever. Use it when you need fire and smoke in a Mexican recipes.

Technical Meanderings: how to use Bookmarks in Word. Great little tool for us writers.

http://www.floggingthequill.com/flogging_the_quill/2004/11/computer_tip_ma.html

How Did I Ever Have Time to Go To Work?

At the end of the year, I "retired" to write full time. How is that working out? The good news is that I took my 108,000 word albatross, changed the main character and the back story, trimmed 8,000 words (8 is a lucky number in Chinese cultures) and did the rewrite and another edit. Now the book goes to an editor for further work, and then it's off to the agents yet again. I am feeling pretty good about this.

Made two out of state trips.

Now it's back to Festival Madness, where I am struggling with a complicated (but good) plot and the necessity to get the first draft done soon. At least this book starts off with a bang (a murder and then an FBI raid) and the subplots all tie in to the main plot. I think it will be a good who-dunnit. Not a cozy, but not a blood and guts book either. So it's time to sit down and suck it up and pump out those words.

Meanwhile, Significant Other and I are cruising into town at least once a week for lunch and various events. This is really cool. We went to a coin show last week and there are plots and books coming out of my head already.

The other things is that we are making an effort to rid the premises of various old records (33's), books, weird collections, and all that jazz, with the idea of turning some of this old junk into cash. Turns out this is work, which is why there are middle men (and women). Anyway, it is sort of fun, and the old album covers from the 60's and 70's are really cool. This is also a time sponge. On the other hand, I am getting stuff done that I have put off for 20 years. Yes, I swear to it.

And cooking. Trying recipes that have been in the recipe files for lo, these many years. Baking cookies from scratch, so far the old tried and true, but that will change. I have to confess that homemade cookies, real butter, fresh nuts, real vanilla, attention to detail are: a)a pain in the butt and b) truly delicious and c) addictive. Right now the cookie jar contains a dwindling supply of Mexican Mocha Balls.

Tonight we're having a pork tenderlion with yellow pepper sauce. Mostly Mexican - to go with the cookies. We're even doing homemade corned beef and cabbage on Friday. Now of course this eating has to be balanced with a certain amoung of exercise and diet meals. So we're walking or at the gym a lot.

I have watched a few TV programs: the Olympics, the Sopranos, a couple of on demand movies. I read a few books, some good, some so-so.

The house is slightly but not much cleaner.

How did I ever have time to go to work?

Grapeshot

Did someone say lunch?

I hope you do not eat those dreadful diet dinners at middday in the office cafeteria. Have you ever read the ingredients on the back? The words "all natural" will never appear on the label. Whenever I asked my colleagues what these marvels of technology tasted like, the answer was always, "it's Okay," or "it's not bad." Now Okay and Not Bad do not translate to good.

Try instead, Grapeshot's Chef's Salad.

If you want to take this to work, you will need a) a bottle of dressing (recipe follows), a small container for the "fixins" and a large container for your washed lettuce. Everything can be made up the night before (if like me, you are not a morning person), otherwise, do your slicing and chopping in the a.m.

This recipe is for two.

Lettuce for 2 servings. Be generous. Vary your varieties. This week we have had iceberg (on sale) Boston and Red Leaf. Wash and spin dry. Store in your large container.

Chop Up: cherry tomatoes, 2 inches of cucumber peeled, a few baby carrots, a scallion, whatever fresh herbs you have on hand (we like chives and cilantro) any fresh peppers, olives, artichoke hearts, whatever would be suitable for salad. Avocado is great. Add to this 2 slices of chopped lean ham. We like the imported ham that has less preservatives and less sugar. Toss in a handful of grated cheese.

Dressing: 1) Into container of an electric bender put: 1/2 cup wine vinegar or lemon juice, 1 1/2 cups salad oil (part olive oil) 1 t. salt, 1/4 t. coarsely ground pepper, 1 t. dry mustard, 1 cup crumbled blue cheese (any kind) and 1/2 small clove garlic. Cover and blend on low speed for 5 seconds. Switch motor to high speed and blend for 10 seconds longer. 2) pour into jar, cover and store in refrigerator. Beats store bought hands down.

To assemble, mix the chopped veggies, ham and cheese with the lettuce and pour on a a few T. of dressing and toss. Enjoy. Eat with bread sticks or place a few croutons on top if you like. If you are not watching weight, have a slice of good bread with real butter.

Throw those frozen dinners out. Frozen dinners are soooo Fifties. Are you mired in the Fifties? God, I hope not.

Enjoy a cookie after lunch. Life is short.

Grapeshot

Where are they going?

Out and about in the Wellesley/Natick area around 9:00 a.m. this mroning. Horrendous traffic. Lots and lots of women in SUV's and Minivans and those new blended cars, whatever they're called. Always one woman per car. Where are they going? They weren't at the supermarket, where the parking lot was practically empty. Are they going to the gym? To tennis? To meditate?

They can't be picking up kids or just dropped off, because it's too late for that. Too late to be going to work unless they have "mother's hours."

This is a real mystery. The malls aren't open yet. Where the hell are all of these women going? To the dry cleaners? All of them? If you know, please email me.

Another pressing question: If you were in the office and the FBI conducted a raid and arrested a colleague what would your reaction be?

End of today's quiz.

As ever,

Grapeshot

25 Rules for Flying

Something to ponder about when in the air or on the ground.

THE 25 RULES OF FLYING 1. Every takeoff is optional. Every landing is mandatory.
2. If you push the stick forward, the houses get bigger. If you pull the stick back, they get smaller. That is, unless you keep pulling the stick all the way back, then they get bigger again.
3. Flying isn't dangerous. Crashing is what's dangerous.
4. It's always better to be down here wishing you were up there than up there wishing you were down here.
5. The ONLY time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.
6. The propeller is just a big fan in front of the plane used to keep The pilot cool. When it stops, you can actually watch the pilot start sweating.
7. When in doubt, hold on to your altitude. No one has ever collided With the sky.
8. A 'good' landing is one from which you can walk away. A 'great' Landing is one after which they can use the plane again.
9. Learn from the mistakes of others. You won't live long enough to make all of them yourself. 10. You know you've landed with the wheels up if it takes full power to taxi to the ramp.
11. The probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle Of arrival. Large angle of arrival, small probability of survival and vice versa.
12. In the ongoing battle between objects made of aluminum going Hundreds of miles per hour and the ground going zero miles per hour, the ground has yet to lose.
13. Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, the experience usually comes from bad judgment.
14. It's always a good idea to keep the pointy end going forward as much as possible
15. Remember, gravity is not just a good idea. It's the law. And it's not subject to appeal.
16. Keep looking around. There's always something you've missed.
17. The three most useless things to a pilot are the altitude above you, runway behind you, and a tenth of a second ago.
18. Helicopters can't fly; they're just so ugly the earth repels them.
19. Never let an aircraft take you somewhere your brain didn't get to Five minutes earlier.
20. Stay out of clouds. The silver lining everyone keeps talking about might be another airplane going in the opposite direction. Reliable sources also report that mountains have been known to hide out in clouds.
21. Always try to keep the number of landings you make equal to the Number of take offs you've made.
22. There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately no one knows what they are.
23. You start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck.
24. If all you can see out of the window is ground that's going round And round and all you can hear is commotion coming from the passenger compartment, things are not at all as they should be. AND FINALLY,
25. When in doubt, take AMTRAK. They may crash more, but they don't have to fall before they do!

In Like A Lion

Hunker down in front of the fire and mix up a big pot of soup weather. March in the northeast is always a chancey month. So far it's been cold as a well digger's ass.

News on the writing front: the agent I sent Promiscuous Mode to, liked it a lot, but he said he wasn't the agent for the book, but he thought someone else in the agency was just the agent, and now she is reading it. So I stay on pins and needles.

The other literary endeavor I've spent a huge amount of time on is the umteenth rewrite of World of Mirrors. I finally finished. Cut 8,000 words out, and have a few more to go. Changed the ending. It's still kind of dark, but since this is a caper book (the last cold war caper), the mission was successful. It has been like major work to whip the manuscript into shape (yet again), and I made some good changes, I think. Created a couple more bad guys. I notice whenever a "bad" character appears in my stories, the whole scene perks up a lot. Why are bad guys such fun?

The other reasons the blog has been quiet is that I've been cooking up a storm, and the corollary, working out a lot. Otherwise there is the problem of weight gain. The holiday pounds are off, at least. I am beginning to think losing weight is harder than quitting smoking and that says an awful lot. We've had some good vegetarian food (dynamite Indian food) and a fanastic Asian fish concoction.

When there is no snow on the ground, I see the tips of all the bulbs planted last fall peeking out of the ground. The cows come running when I climb out of my car and wave the plastic bags of fruit and vegetable scraps. The young bull has been seen rubbing noses with last year's baby. Old Mama didn't poke him with her horns and let him eat side by side. Looks like he is going to be Big Man On Campus in the pasture this spring or whenever. I just love his sweet face. He doesn't look at all like a bully.

Aloha,

Grapeshot